Sales have been generally strong but there is still plenty to sell amid reports of softening prices, says Lucy Huxley
With the summer getaway now fully underway, the jury remains out on whether the 2024 peak season will be deemed a successful one for the industry.
Fears of a race to the bottom due to additional capacity in the market appear to have been unfounded. However, there is clearly plenty to sell in the lates period amid softening prices and pressure on yields. It has also been hard to get a clear view of sales performance in recent months, with agents and operators reporting fluctuating consumer appetite and no clear booking patterns.
Smaller operators have had to battle hard to balance their books, with increased costs and a lack of charter capacity among their challenges. But despite an undeniable slowing of the momentum seen in the past two years, there is still a broad sense of positivity among the industry leaders I have spoken to recently.
If the current mood could best be summed up as cautious optimism, that phrase could equally be applied to the industry’s first take on relations with the new government as it approaches its first month in power.
As expected, calls for greater ministerial focus on the travel and tourism sector have gone unheeded, with the tourism minister’s multiple unrelated briefs a case in point.
But other relevant appointments have broadly been met with approval by some of those tasked with leading engagement with Whitehall and Westminster.
Time will tell, of course, but it feels like government doors may be open to the industry.
Comment originally from Travel Weekly, August 1 edition